Petzval!

Last year, I learned of the new Petzval lens Kickstarter too late to join, but I was still able to pre-order one in December.  I've been not-so-patiently waiting for six months, but my new Petzval lens arrived yesterday and I got to take it out for a spin in the afternoon.  (Breaking my self-imposed blog rule of not putting people pictures - my regular website is full of those already - here are some of the shots I liked.)

Shot #1 with my new Petzval.  OK, it has some swirl, but the manual focus dial will certainly take some getting used to.

I quickly discover that the Petzval, with said manual focus dial, is not the lens to bring to the Pond to photograph a toddler happily on the move.  I miss many cute shots before he pauses for a split second.

I also quickly discover that trees give the best swirl.  Sure, I could add this effect in Photoshop, but that's no fun...

I can't wait for my experimental aperture plates to also get here, to really set this bokeh apart.

OK, so this lens has a little flare problem... duly noted.

Now I think I'm getting the hang of it, perhaps. Ashley Pond fish sculpture.

A cool thing about this lens is that it asks me to slow down, to consider the background carefully - rather than rely on my aperture to blur it out and put the focus on the subject, I actually want a specific background to try to get that Petzval blur to put the focus on the subject.  Still need to watch out for trunk-head, but hey. 

I'm getting a little dizzy now, swirled around.

In love with my new lens and ready for more subjects, please.